A micro-flow reactor is a chemical reaction apparatus generally utilizing a microchannel in the order of submillimeter as a reaction field. The micro-flow reactor has attracted attention in recent years because it has specific effects, due to the micro reaction field, such as high-speed mixing performance (for example, when two liquids are mixed in a micro-space, the substance diffusion distance in the two liquids decreases, resulting in shortening the time of mass transfer movement), heat removal efficiency (since the reaction field is small, thermal efficiency is extremely high and temperature control is easy), reaction control performance, interface control performance, or the like. In addition, it is expected that the technology of the micro-flow reactor provides various effects such as improved safety and significantly reduced cost of equipment along with downsizing of the whole process, process intensification (micro in macro) by incorporating into existing processes, and production of substances that could not be produced by an existing production method.
However, a problem with the micro-flow reactor is that only a limited amount can be processed at a time. Therefore, process development of a flow reactor which can be practically used even if a processing amount increases is being carried out. The flow reactor is a chemical reaction apparatus in which the diameter of a flow channel is enlarged to the order of millimeters to centimeters to the extent that the characteristics of the micro-flow reactor are not impaired to enhance the operability. The flow reactor is mainly composed of a raw material feeding unit, a reaction unit, and an operation control unit, and as base materials for these units, inorganic materials such as metals, silicon, glass, and ceramic, or organic materials such as resins are generally used.
Patent Document 1 discloses a method for continuously producing polymers by polymerization of RAFT solution using a flow reactor, and the flow reactor is made of a polymer, metal, glass or combination thereof.
In the field of chemistry, there are many cases where a reaction solution contains a strong acid or a strong alkali, which is highly corrosive. As a product taking the corrosion into consideration, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a microchannel structure in which glass, Teflon (registered trademark), a metal, or the like, which is resistant to a highly corrosive liquid such as an acid and alkali, is used for substrates.
Furthermore, as a process application, for example, Patent Document 3 discloses the fluororesin coated surfaces of loaded parts of a device such as a distillation column, in which a fluid containing an easily polymerizable substance are handled. And Patent Document 4 discloses a reactor having an inner metal wall having a fluoropolymer coating fixedly attached thereto.
Patent Document 5 discloses a structure for storing and transporting chemical products such as corrosive products, the structure having a multilayer structure including an inner layer of irradiation-grafted fluoropolymer and an outer layer of a polyolefin directly attached to the inner layer. Patent Document 6 discloses a multilayer pipe that is preferably used for transporting petrol, the multilayer pipe having a multilayer structure including an inner layer of irradiation-grafted fluoropolymer and an outer layer of a polyolefin directly attached to the inner layer. In addition, Patent Document 7 discloses a laminated tube composed of at least three layers including a layer formed of a fluorine-containing polymer.